Machine for forming cup-leathers.



W. 15. SMITH'. MACHINE' PoR PORMING our LBATHERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 2, 1908. A l 945,479, Patented Jan. 4, 1910.

FFICE W'AYLANI) F. SMITH, 0F SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA.

MACHINE FOR FORMING CUP-LEATHERS.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, vWAYLAND F. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of San Bernardino, county of San Bernardino, and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Forming Cup-Leathers, of which the following is a specification.

In railroad shops where air brakes are repaired a great many cup leathers for brake cylinders are used and it is desirable to have a machine by means of which such cup leathers may be quickly formed and in which a quantity of such leathers can be kept in stock as a cup leather that has been formed for a few days gives better results than one that is freshly formed. My invention, however, is not confined to the production of cup leathers for brake cylinders, but is adapted for use for forming cup leathers for all plungers using cup leathers.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to a machine for forming and storing cup leathers for use in the brake cylinders in an air brake systemyand a description of the machine as applied to that purpose, will be equally applicable to the forming of other cup leathers for pistons of dierent sizes.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of a cup leather forming machine, with the parts in position ready to receive the cup leather holding and forming plates, and the assembling pin. Fig. 2 is a side elevation partly in Section of the parts shown in Fig. 1 with the cup forming plates and assembling pin and cup leathers in place and properly formed in the machine, the forming plates and cup leathers being in central section. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. fl is an enlarged sectional fragmentary view of the cup forming plates and formed cup leather.

In the drawings is the frame upon which the air cylinder 6 and the cup leather forming chamber 7 are secured. 8 is the piston in the air cylinder which is provided with a stem 9 which is preferably'a hollow pipe. The air cylinder has secured to the inner end thereof a spring chamber through which the stem 9 reciprocates. Within this chamber and surrounding the piston chamber is a spiral spring 11 which is adapted to force the piston to the outer end of the cylinder when the air pressure is relieved from the cylinder. Vhen a hollow pipe is used for Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led November 2, 1908.

Patented J an. 4, 1910.

Serial No. 460,632.

a piston stem a bushing 12 is secured in the outer end of the stem. Vithin the bore of the bushing is received the upper end of an assembling pin 13. On one side and at the upper end of this assembling pin is a small guide pin 14 which is received in a vertical groove 15 in the bushing, and opposite this guide pin is a notch 16 into which latch bolt17 enters and holds the assembling pin from separating from the piston stem. The inner end of the latch bolt is beveled on the lower side as shown in F 2 and the outer end is reduced in size. Surrounding the reduced portion and within a casing 18 in which the latch is longitudinally movable is a spiral spring 19 which holds the latch normally in the position shown in Fig. 2. The latch is provided with a handle 2O which when reversed rotates lthe latch to bring the bevel of the inner end on the upper side, so that the assembling pin can be easily separated from the piston stem, the latch yielding for that purpose. When it is again desired to insert the assembling pin, the latch would be turned over to the position shown in Fig. 2.

The cup leather forming plates 21 are circular plates or disks of a diameter which is less than the diameter of the piston on which the cup leather is to be used, by the thickness of the leather. Preferably in the outer lower edge is an outer annular rabbet 22 of a little less depth than the thickness of the leather 25 to be formed into a cup leather. Near the inner edge of the rabbet and on opposite sides of the forming plate are small sockets Q3 into which are received pins Zet of the forming plate immediately below. These pins and sockets are to keep the forming plates from turning on each other. A small annular ridge 21a formed on the upper surface of the rabbet. and a short pin 21a holds leathers 25 for forming the cup leathers from slipping, while the cup is being formed. There may be as many of these latter pins as desired. In practice one on each side is suflicient. On the upper side of each forming plate is an annular boss 2G,

and on the under side is an annular interior rabbet 27 into which the boss of the plate below is received to prevent the plates from having any transverse motion. If desired the forming plates could be plain disks with the outside rabbet only, but I prefer the interior rabbet and boss as they give a better register for the plates and a better bearing.

lOO

The mouth Q8 of the forming chamber 7 is preferably tapered as best shown in Fig. 2. A follower plate 29 is provided for the forming chamber and the upper surface thereof is of the same configuration as the upper surface of a forming plate except that it has no vertical grooves and has in the boss a transverse slot 30 best shown in Fig. 8. In this slot is received, when the parts are assembled, as shown in Ifig. 2, a retaining pin 3l which passes through a hole in the lower end of the assembling pin, thereby preventing any rotary movement of the follower or forming plates when the parts are assembled. This follower has a stem 32 which reciprocates within the spring chamber 33 secured to the outer end of the foi-nr ing chamber. lithin this spring chamber is a spiral spring Sat which causes the follower to move up to the mouth of the forming chamber, when the air pressure is relieved in' the air cylinder. A stop pin 35 in the other end of the stem stops the follower and holds the same with the top of the boss inthe same plane as the mouth of the forming chamber. In the drawings I have shown only live forming plates in use, but by making the forming chamber longer and the assembling pin longer7 more forming plates can be used.

In the operation of my machine the assembling pin with the retaining pin attached to the bottom thereof would be provided with a forming plate on which a leather washer was placed in the rabbet and thereafter the required number of forming disks with leathers forcupsplaced in rabbetswould be threaded onto the assembling' pin until the required number were threaded on. The latch would be thrown into the position shown in Fig. 2 when the assembling pin with its forming plates and leathers for cups would be secured to the piston stem of the air cylinder. It will be understood that the leathers to be formed into cups are annular washers which are received on the outer rabbets of the forming plates and are turned into the position shown in Figs. 3 and Je by being forced into the forming chamber by supplying compressed air into the air cylin- 5 der through pipe 36 from a source of supply y not shown. The air pressure upon piston 8 forces the forming plates and cup leathers into the forming chamber as shown inFigz, thereby giving the leathers their cup shape. By making the cup leather forming chamber of considerable length a considerable number of cup leathers could be formed at one time. It will be understood that the air cylinder must give the piston the same travel that the cup leathers are required to travel in the forming chamber. When it is desired to use a cup leather, by relieving the air pressure in the air cylinder the springs in the spring chambers will bring the forming plates with their formed cup leathers to a point a. little above the mouth of the forming chamber; when the bottom cup leather can be removed for use. If more than one cup leather is required, forming plates would be removed from the assembling pin until the required number of cup leathers were taken off. Those forming plates from which cup leathers were removed would be provided with new leathers for new cups and preferably would be placed on the top end of the assembling pin7 which would be removed from the air piston stem for that purpose. This can be easily accomplished by giving the latch a half turn to bringthe bevel to the top when the assembling pin can be readily pulled out. If only a single cup leather was required, it would be taken from the bottom plate and a leather for a new cup could be placed thereon and the parts returned to the forming chamber, but I prefer to have the new leathers at the top of the forming chamber as thereby insuring better results in the use of the leathers. A wooden ring 37 below the follower plate 29 and preferably secured thereto gives a better guide for the plate in the chamber.

The forming plates are provided with vertical grooves 38, which when turned into register with pin bl permits the bottom plate to fall off of th'e lower end of the assembling pin. These grooves are stag gered so that only one plate at a time will drop oft the bottom of the pin.

Having described my invention what I claim is:

A cup leather forming machine comprising an air cylinder; a piston in said cylin` der; a stem secured to said piston; a spring surrounding said stem and adapted to force the piston to the outer end of the cylinder, whenever the air pressure is relieved in thc air chamber; a forming chamber in line with said cylinder; an assembling pin; forming plates adapted to be secured upon said assembling pin; means to secure said assembling pin to said piston stem; a follower in said forming chamber; a stem secured to said follower; a spring surrounding said stem and adapted to force the follower to the mouth of the forming chamber.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 2lday of October, 1908.

W'AYLAND F. SMITH.

lVitnesses z Josnrrr THOMAS NICHOLS,

THOMAS BIRMINGHAM. 

